The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC One of the most difficult therapeutic processes is confronting the forgotten oaths/promises/resolutions a person has unconsciously internalized which continue to cause harm. Oaths are made to never forget the pain of a broken heart. Promises are forged of not turning into a dysfunctional parent. Resolutions are created out of childhood trauma. Then ironically, as if one broken desire is not enough, society encourages the pattern to restart every year. In Roman mythology, the god Janus (believed to be the root of January) is known for transitions from old into new. People would make promises to the god at the start of the year. This is the origin of the New Year’s tradition. But just because something has been done for centuries, does not mean it needs to continue into the future. According to the University of Scranton, Journal of Clinical Psychology (2016) research, 45% of Americans will make a New Year’s resolution but only 8% will achieve i...

By Cara Griffin-Locker It is a new year and a new you.   This time of year is a great time to embrace starting fresh and a good time to think about new aspirations and meaningful goals.   It is a time when we ponder on what our story will be.   It is also a time when many of us set the wonderful eagerly anticipated New Year’s resolutions. Sounds great, right? Maybe the part about the goals and aspirations and the possibility of writing a whole new story, but what about the resolutions? If you are like most people, you set the resolution knowing it is going to be broken or soon forgotten.   Or better yet, you set a resolution just because everyone else is setting one. Who loves setting a resolution that is often not kept and leaves one feeling discouraged, defeated and depressed in the middle of January? Why do we do this to ourselves? Is the societal epidemic of keeping up with the Joneses partially to blame? Or can we simply blame ourselves for the lack of t...

  By Matt W. Sandford, LMHC So, it’s the New Year again. And probably almost everyone will be thinking about New Year’s Resolutions or plans or desires about what they want to achieve during the year ahead. We seem to be oriented this way – to take stock once a year – to mark off our life journey, and use intervals to review and evaluate our course. That is what you are doing, right? Right? I bet I probably had you with the first part – the part about making goals for the year ahead. But what about the next part – of evaluating and reviewing your course? Might you be doing the one without the other? If I’m right, I would say that if so you would be among the majority. It seems to me that many folks had all kinds of dreams, plans, goals etc. of where they want to get to or what they want to reach or achieve. But only a small percentage of those invest in reviewing their course direction, as it were. What I mean is, there are a lot of us Americans who really like to g...

By Matt W Sandford, LMHC As I thought about the new year and pondered the things I wanted to focus on I found myself reflecting on the past year. And it dawned on me how we are conditioned to every year focus ahead and make resolutions and set goals and such. But how much do we look back? And why do we shy away from taking a penetrating look back? Partly, my guess on why we don’t invest in looking back is related to a cultural mandate these days that says, “the past is the past”, or maybe the more modern version of that, which is, “it is what is it is”. There is a strong tendency to downplay the past and encourage forward thinking, from a positive attitude point of view. Meaning that there is a belief that to look back is to ‘dwell’, or wallow or maybe to hold grudges. It is promoted that the person who can “move on” is strong and resilient – not letting anything slow them down – like in a foot race. The problem, as ...

  By Dwight Bain Major change is almost impossible to manage alone, that’s why it is wise to seek guidance during times of massive change. Taking the right action quickly can prevent a stressful situation from getting worse and in fact may turn into unexpected success. I’ve had the chance to come alongside thousands of people over the last 30 years to coach them through major life transitions in their personal and professional life and have learned something new about change every day. Remember, since resolutions don’t work this is about changing your mind set on priorities and core values. If you try to change everything, you will end up changing nothing. Are you ready to really experience positive change? Are you ready for the most productive and successful year of your life? Then read on! While every difficult situation was complex in different ways, I discovered some common elements of a remarkable, although often, hidden source of energy that on...